Where do at-large Volusia Council candidates stand on exploding growth?

DAYTONA BEACH — Drive somewhere in Volusia County you haven't been in a while, and odds are that along your journey you'll see a new apartment building or small cluster of commercial development that wasn't there last time you motored that way.

New development is springing up all over the county, and the four candidates vying to become the next at-large County Council representative all have opinions on the growth that's been taking place the past several years.

It's a key topic that Sherrise Boyd, Jake Johansson, Andy Kelly and Doug Pettit are hearing about a lot on the campaign trail as they head toward the Aug. 23 primary election that will determine if one of them wins a four-year term outright with over 50% of votes, or if two of them wind up in a runoff election Nov. 8.

Here's a closer look at the four competitors hoping to represent all 407,200 voters countywide starting in January, and what they have to say about development and other issues.

Boyd: Slow down growth

Boyd owns a consulting and marketing business. She has also worked in government, including a stint with the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in Atlanta and as a support services manager in the Volusia County Division of Emergency Medical Services.

The 50-year-old ran for Daytona Beach mayor in 2020 but finished last in the three-way competition.

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Boyd said her perspective on development in Volusia County is that "we're under-developed in some areas and over-developed in others."

She said she's had to explain to some voters she's met while campaigning that the county government doesn't control the cities inside it. But she would like to see the cities and county work together.

"We can learn from each other's mistakes," she said.

She said if she's elected she'll do her best to slow down growth, and she would support a development moratorium that wouldn't affect already approved projects if it came before the County Council.

"I think we're not developing right relationships to do development better," she said.

She said trees and waterways have been damaged by all the new construction, and now the county is running out of space for new development.

"There's so many levels to the problems in development," Boyd said.

Creating more affordable housing is another high priority for Boyd. She said she has a perspective shaped by growing up very poor in New York and living through an eviction as a child.

Boyd said Volusia County needs more housing based on income, and more housing developments with residents who have a mix of financial abilities.

"What kind of county are we if we build for out-of-towners, but people born and raised here can't afford to live here?" she asked. "We have people who are just not happy where they're living. Some are barely surviving."

Boyd said she's finding disillusioned residents.

"So many people are disappointed and don't know where the county is going," she said. "So many don't vote. They don't feel their vote counts. They don't trust the government."

Johansson: 'If you don't grow, you die'

Johansson was the city manager of Port Orange for five and a half years, a position that he decided to step down from at the end of 2020 to deal with some family matters.

Johansson spent 35 years in the Navy. He commanded a combat squadron in Iraq and a Naval base in Norfolk, Virginia, where there is one of the largest concentrations of military personnel in the world.

The 59-year-old also worked at the Pentagon and carried the nuclear football in the White House for three years. He's currently working as a leadership consultant and mostly doing executive coaching.

He said it's important to balance the county's industry with its residents, but added that not all growth is bad.

"If you don't grow, you die," he said.

And Florida is growing.

"Our state has seen an influx of people, about 1,000 per day," he said. "Those people need a place to live."

He said property rights need to be protected, but he thinks "development should happen."

"It's important for the economic growth and maintenance of the county," he said.

Johansson said he prefers to see infill development in cities versus new development in rural areas, but he doesn't want to force any local governments to do anything. He said he wants "to bring a collaborative culture to the County Council."

"We all need to march ahead strategically if this is going to work," he said. "We can be a force to be reckoned with at the state and federal level."

Johansson said existing road problems need to be fixed, and road capacity has to be limited to avoid gridlock.

Johansson has the backing of the current at-large councilman, former Volusia County Sheriff Ben Johnson, who decided not to seek re-election to the Council. He also has donations from some of the power players in Volusia County: Hyatt and Cici Brown; Charlie Lydecker and his Foundation Risk Partners insurance firm; two NASCAR-affiliated businesses; and the political committee controlled by state Rep. Tom Leek.

Johansson has amassed the largest campaign contribution tally of the four candidates, with $103,799 raised so far. Kelly has collected $48,575, Pettit has drawn $28,010 in donations and Boyd has $7,759.

Kelly: 'Not just overdevelopment, sprawl'

Kelly has worked as a professional accountant for more than 45 years. He runs and owns Betty W. Kelly Accounting, the tax, accounting and business consulting firm in DeLand that his mother started in 1967.

Kelly's late brother, Bill, was a certified public accountant who did several government audits, and Kelly helped him with some of those audits in the 1980s and 1990s.

Kelly served on the Volusia County Council from 2007 to 2012. In 2012 he ran for the Volusia County supervisor of elections post, but lost to Ann McFall. He then lost a 2014 County Council race to Pat Patterson by 140 votes, less than one-half of 1%.

Kelly has since been elected to the Volusia County Soil & Water Conservation District Board.

The 64-year-old said he took a step back from public life over the past several years because of serious health issues among his family members. Over the last four years, he said his mother, father, brother and sister-in-law all died.

Kelly said some people urged him to try once more now to return to the County Council.

Kelly noted that he's the only one of the four candidates who has lived his whole life in Volusia County.

"I've watched our natural resources get built over," he said.

Kelly said if growth isn't controlled Volusia County will become a metropolitan area without sufficient roads.

"It's not just overdevelopment, it's the sprawl," he said.

When something new is built in an outlying area and cities annex that property, sprawl happens, he said.

"It's the creeping out into the natural resource areas," Kelly said. "It's runaway sprawl when you put a development in a natural resource area. You forever alter the flows of springs, watersheds, the wildlife, their foraging, their mating. We just keep taking more and more from the nature we need."

Pettit: 'Need to get growth under control'

Pettit is a coach and retired teacher. He coached the Taylor High School football team from 2007 to 2010, and he's currently a coach at Spruce Creek High School.

Pettit is also a retired U.S. Marine with 26 years of military service that included serving in Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm in 1990 and 1991. When he was in the Marine Corps, he said he was a heavy equipment officer with a $1.7 million budget.

Pettit has lived in Florida for 30 years, and Volusia County for 15 years. He lived in Seminole County for 14 years.

The 68-year-old has owned several small businesses. Pettit said he had a small business in San Diego for 10 years that he started from scratch. He said he also ran a business in Lake Mary for three years.

Pettit said he's focusing on three issues on his journey toward the Aug. 23 primary election. He said he won't "advocate for a tax increase," he wants to "control overdevelopment," and he wants to protect the county's water and environment.

"I'm not trying to be a fear monger, but the people of this county are afraid of what's happening with development," he said. "People feel like for a long time they've had no say in it."

He said the county's residents, not developers, should decide what is built. And he said governments should stop approving zoning changes to allow new developments.

Pettit said low-impact development principles should be put into use more frequently. He said governments could even try to renegotiate with developers on projects that haven't been built yet to try to reduce environmental impacts.

He also thinks impact fees should be raised.

"We have 2008 impact fees in a 2022 economy with a growth spurt," Pettit said. "Growth is not paying for itself."

He said developers can build and pay for new roads when they're needed.

"We need to do things to get growth under control," Pettit said.

You can reach Eileen at Eileen.Zaffiro@news-jrnl.com

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Volusia County Council candidates discuss the local development boom